Gloria “Glo” Hampton is ready to show the world a new era of Dance Moms. Hampton is taking competition to a new level in Dance Moms: A New Era, Hulu’s reboot of the iconic Lifetime series, opening up to PopCulture.com ahead of the Wednesday, Aug. 7 premiere about her coaching methods and the unavoidable “mama drama.”
In Dance Moms: A New Era, Hampton gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at her Studio Bleu Dance Center in the wealthy Ashburn, Va. area. And while the seasoned dance coach can be “tough” on her students, she makes sure to pair her toughness with “love” and “respect.”
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“I’m tough. I expect a lot of my students,” she told PopCulture of her coaching style. “But I show them respect so that I get respect from them in return.” She continued, “I feel like my students just really want to please me. That’s important to them. The worst thing that they can do is disappoint me. [But] I definitely teach with love because I love what I do, and I love seeing kids achieve. Whether it’s a small goal or getting a Broadway show, whatever it is, all of that is important. Everybody’s goals are different, and everybody’s going to progress at a different pace. So we celebrate the little victories and the big victories.”
Throughout her years as a dancer and then dance coach, Hampton says she’s seen a lot of changes, including dancers getting “better and better” at a younger age. “I think the difference too is my students – they have opinions. They want to speak their mind, and they tell me how they feel, and they’re very open,” she told PopCulture. “So, I think that has changed a bit. They’re not quiet. They’re not timid. So, that’s fun. It’s fun to see their personalities and them speak up for themselves.”
One thing that never changes is having “plenty of mama drama” behind the scenes. “We live in a very wealthy area,” Hampton explained. “So a lot of these moms or these families, I think they feel like they’re entitled and that their children are then entitled to get the best role or to be given things that they don’t necessarily want to or haven’t worked for. … It’s cutthroat. Whenever you’re dealing with mothers of children, it’s hard. They’re looking at all of this through rose-colored glasses.”
Hampton tries not to intervene with the infighting as long as they leave it outside of her studio, “but if it comes into my room, there are consequences for that.” She added, “I don’t like being interrupted, and I don’t like being questioned. So I have to deal with that as it comes … and if the parents would just let the kids do their thing, everybody would be just fine.”
Dance Moms: A New Era premieres on Aug. 7 on Hulu.
